Spending Money vs. Time
There are lots of services out there that will do things on your behalf. You can drop your clothes off at the laundromat to get them washed and folded for you. You can purchase your groceries online and have them delivered to the house. You can pay people to mow your lawn and rake the yard.
People’s first reaction when I tell them I get my groceries sent to my house is that I’m spending money for no reason. I’m acting rich. Something like that. But let’s do the breakdown:
Money, Time
The service to get groceries delivered to my house costs $6 US. The average time I spend buying groceries is approximately an hour, start to finish. Is my time worth more than $6 an hour? Oh yes.
Laundry service costs 45 cents a pound. The average drop-off is costing me $45 dollars. But throwing loads in downstairs in the building costs me $3.00 for each load, totalling under $20. Doing laundry is annoying, but I can do other things at the same time. Is my time worth that extra $20? Not really (unless I get way behind).
Making Things to Sell
People will often tell me about a craft they’re making to sell, or some “easy” eBay scheme, and I can’t help myself. I always do the math. “How much do your materials cost? How long does it take to make? How much are you asking for these?” Plink. Plink. You’re making 41 cents an hour. If you have NO income, and you have lots of time, bully for you. But if you’re doing this because you think you’re going to make more money from it, reconsider.
Consider Your Hourly Value
First, decide whether time or money are more important to you, and also which you have more to spare. (Oddly, this is how business runs at the smaller level, right?) If time is more important to you in most cases (and I imagine you’ll agree that it is), consider the trade-offs between spending a little extra money but gaining extra time, versus what you save by doing something yourself.
Consider this outsourcing for your life.
Where are some of the areas you might be able to trade money for time? Here’s a short list. Can you add more?
- Laundry service
- Grocery delivery
- Food delivery
- Yard service
- Housecleaning
Now, you might add one more criteria: which of these do you hate to do? Those might get a little extra weight in your decision making process. It might also be important to realize which cost more than others. You probably can’t afford to do all of them.
Are there twinges of guilt? Do you feel like you HAVE to do these things? Why? When all is tallied at the end of your life, will you get extra points for folding your own socks? Or will this time give you a chance to work on your masterwork?
Consider the value of your time, and plan accordingly.
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Comments
Leon says on May 23rd, 2006 at 11:20 am
Great post, Chris. Time vs Money is always a good topic.
My favorite example of trading money for time is car washing. I used to spend so much time to wash my car every week and one day I realised if I am not going to enjoy it I may as well pay someone else to do it.
Generalizing what I want to ‘outsource’, they are things that require 100% of me at that particular time, and something that I do not enjoy.
IMO, another thing to consider into trading money for time - is it something you enjoy? If it is by all mean keep it for yourself. If you sell crafts because you enjoy making them - that would be good scenario to consider this as a hobby other than earning money.
Dave P says on May 23rd, 2006 at 11:33 am
You haven’t addressed the qualitative values when considering outsourcing some of these tasks.
For instance, I like to cook, and while grocery shopping isn’t my favourite thing, I enjoy grocery shopping, seeing what is for sale, and building dishes and menus as I pass through the store.
With respect to “making things to sell”, people obtain a huge amount of satisfaction out of creating something, then having people appreciate your skill by purchasing the item. This feeling of real accomplishment is missing from much of the modern workplace.
What do we outsource, what do we keep in house?
1) Laundry…in-house. A task my wife takes pride in, and she would not trust any outsourcing
2) Cooking. Firmly in-house. I find myself making more and more from scratch - soy milk, pickles, etc. it is very rare when we order food in, or purchase frozen entrees for reheating. Of course, a dairy, and wheat free house (boy has allergies) complicates this, but I get huge satisfaction to putting meals on the table myself for my family
3) housecleaning - outsourced. We both dislike it, and further, we have differences on defining just what is a clean house.
As I mentioned above, I’d say have low satisfaction/pride in my full time job in IT…it’s the after hours stuff that I can say I’m proud of. Don’t discount that.
Karl Whealton says on May 24th, 2006 at 10:44 am
I like this post, but the calculation is a little more complicated than that. As an example, $6/hour for the groceries is not a tax deductible expense. It is taken from post-tax, post-FICA dollars. So if your total income taxed (state, local, Soc. Security…) is 50%, you would need to be worth $12/hour to justify the expenditure.
By the way, I think that the analogy to outsourcing a great one! Many of the same considerations apply.
Susie says on May 30th, 2006 at 11:56 am
I think outsourcing some of the household duties can help relieve a lot of stress. I’ve expanded my business, Virginia’s Pantry http://www.virginiaspantry.com to help people with the chore of grocery shopping and meal planning. Although there is an expense to pay someone to deliver your groceries, it is worth it to have help with the meal planning. Without organizing your meals and grocery list, it is easy to add a lot of unneccessary purchases and end up with a lot of “stuff” but still not everything needed to create more than a few meals. My service can help others with budgeting and also save time. I have 6 children and I know when I take them to the store, they seem to add items to the cart and I spend a lot more money. The important part of family meals is to enjoy each others company and communicate. By planning ahead and having items on hand that you can cook simple meals, you are able to enjoy your family dinner at home around the table instead of in a noisy restaurant or in the car!
K.Sako says on November 4th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I Kombucha (kind stocks) to sell. U.S.A in kombucha to people looking for a sale. Details, e-mail us.